Hey Everybody, All I can say is I have been busy! After my crazy Colorado trip where more fun stuff happened at Cole's house post racing than I can even remember, I headed to Whistler BC for 10 days of riding and a whole bunch of racing. I raced yet again two slaloms while in Whistler, the first being regular slalom. It was anything but a regular slalom, This thing looked like a sculpture. I swear you could roll a basketball out of the gate and it could of made it down the track. Super smooth and just as the track was perfect, you had to be perfect to ride this track well. I qualified low in 16th place and by the time I advanced to the second round I was the only guy on a full suspension bike left. Well with Lopes being the number one qualifier it was time for me to race him once again. This time I finally came out on top and it felt good. I really wanted to go on for the win but with a few mistakes in the semi-final I found myself racing for 3rd against my teammate Cody Warren. The only consolation for not making the main was that one of my mistakes was turning to hard and dragging my handlebar in the dirt almost causing myself to crash.

Next weekend we raced Giant Slalom which was a really long slalom with huge berms and jumps. The jumps were about 60% to small for the speed we were carrying. This made for a pretty scary combination of breaking and scrubbing off the lips of the jumps to try to keep from landing to flat or the uphill of the next jump. Again I qualified 16th and Lopes?? Again he was first. I advanced past Brendan Faircloth in the first round, and then very next round Lopes again! I am starting to see a pattern. I really can't complain, it is the best experience I can ever get and I love the opportunity. I do need to start qualifying better though. Well Lopes got me, he was riding really well and had a super strong first straight.

Finally the whole Jersey thing. Well this weekend I am at DiabloFreeride Park for the Jeep 48straight race. Today was qualies and I got 11th, better than 16th, but still not what I am after. Tomorrow are the finals but you might just have to wait to find out the results of this one until it airs on CBS September 28. Hope all is well and we will see you at the races.

This past week I have been out in Colorado staying with Cole Bangert and his family. We arrived at Crankworks Colorado on Wednesday to find a really sick Slopestyle track and what looked to be a fun slalom. Cole is recovering from a shoulder separation injury that occurred just before National Champs. He had decided it was finally time to try out some xc so we headed over to Sol Vista bike park. While there we had a great ride and also got the info that there would be a slalom race Saturday night. The XC was fun and it was good to see Cole recovering so fast.

Saturday was Slalom at Sol Vista. The guys over there put little time into building the track and it speaks volumes for how good they really are because the track was great. Saturday morning we had qualifying, then back to Crankworks to watch a little Slopestyle, then finally some racing under the lights. I was riding really good and found myself in the finals with Brian Lopes. I took the first run and Lopes took the second with an advantage big enough to take the overall. It was a great night of racing and I really felt like the crowd was behind me.

Sunday saw what felt like a really early morning of practice after the late night of racing at Sol Vista. Lopes and I met once again only this time it was in the Semi Finals which meant only one of us would make it to the finals. Brian took the first run and I took the second but not by enough. I ended up taking 3rd while Brian would take the win. It was a lot of fun and I feel like I am riding better than I ever have, a good feeling going into the next few weeks of racing. Look for a Crankworks slalom update soon!